Encouraging Economic Development in the Arab Countries

Dr. Thomas Bach, president of the Ghorfa Arab German Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The economic crisis has had only relatively little affect on the Arab countries. Their economic power, especially that of the oil and gas producing countries, has even had a stabilizing effect. ARAB FORUM was able to speak with the president of the Ghorfa Arab German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Thomas Bach, and ask some questions about the future of German-Arab economic relations, including Iraq’s potential and educational training as an export article.

ARAB FORUM: What is the current status of German-Arab economic relations in view of the current global economic and financial crisis?

Dr. Bach: The economic development in the Arab states has proven to be an encouraging factor in the current global economic slowdown. As an exporting nation, Germany’s business particularly profits from this development. German exports to the Arab world have risen in 2008 by more than 20 percent to a record value of 28.1 billion euros. In the first quarter of 2009 these exports increased another 2.9 percent compared to the first quarter of last year. This development impressively demonstrates that German-Arab relations are not a part of the problem but rather a part of the solution.

ARAB FORUM: Compared worldwide, the Arab countries have only been mildly affected. Why is this the case?

Dr. Bach: The resources-rich Arab states have taken advantage of the ‘window of opportunity’ in recent years to diversify their national economies and reduce their dependency on their oil and natural gas reserves. The economic and structural reforms initiated in almost all Arab countries and the improved investment climate are showing effects, and accelerating this development. Particular attention is being given here to sectors that promise high sustainability. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for example, has made massive investments in the health care sector, and the Emirate of Qatar is planning to position itself in the future as a center of education and study.

ARAB FORUM: In the spring, the Ghorfa hosted the 1st German-Arab Education and Vocational Training Forum, which attracted a great amount of interest and must be considered a complete success. How do you explain the large reaction to the subject of education for which the Ghorfa seems to have assumed a pacesetting role?

Dr. Bach: Over a third of the Arab population is under the age of 15. Some 70 million are seeking vocational training that leads to a job. Along with other products, training “made in Germany” also enjoy an excellent reputation in the Arab world. This is especially true of the system of dual training on the job and in vocational school. This very system is custom-tailored for the needs of the Arab world where it is essential to train sufficient workers to meet the demand.

ARAB FORUM: Although IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, is a German initiative, it was decided at the 2nd preparatory conference last June in Sharm El Sheikh to install IRENA’s Secretariat General in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, the world’s first Co2-free city. Would this indicate the future of renewable energies is being shaped in the Arab countries, particularly those producing oil and natural gas?

Dr. Bach: This fact once again shows that the Arab countries are conscious of the finite amount of fossil fuels they possess and are already today thinking about strategies for the time they are depleted. In addition, the climatic conditions on the Arab Peninsula are near to ideal for solar energy.
Independent of the seat of the Secretariat General, IRENA is more of a global project than a national one. It was also determined that the home of its Technology and Innovation Center will be Bonn.

ARAB FORUM: A good deal of activity by Germany and particularly Iraq aimed at exploiting Mesopotamia’s economic potential has been observed in business and politics in the last year and a half. In November the Ghorfa hosted another two-day forum on the subject in Berlin. Where do Iraq’s economic strengths lie, and what do they wish from German business and government?

Dr. Bach: Iraq not only has excellent growth potential due to its wealth of oil and natural gas, but also particularly because of its young and well educated population. But above all, the Iraqi government is vigorously and conscienciously pursuing the reconstruction of the country. At the same time, German industry has the know-how and technology necessary to do it. It is therefore in everyone’s interest to seize the opportunity offered to work together and to make optimum use of it. The forum in November provides companies from both countries an excellent opportunity to create the basis for such cooperation through personal contact.

ARAB FORUM: Where do you see further potential for German-Arab economic relations?

Dr. Bach: It is of decisive importance for the future sustainability of German-Arab economic relations to not just limit the cooperation to a simple exchange of goods. Particularly in times likes these, it is strategic partnerships that hold the promise of the greatest success possible for both sides. This also opens up new opportunities, such as developing third markets together.

Interview conducted by Rainer Schubert

Moroccans in Europe

A little tale of political integration
by Natalia Gorzawski

Moroccans in Eurpoe

The political integration of immigrants, particularly those with a Muslim background, is regularly made a subject of discussion by immigrant groups, Turkish and Arab organizations, and occasionally even by the press. Despite the large number (close to 3.3 million) of devote Muslims in Germany, their presence is little felt in politics. Many are plagued by the thought that the prejudice against and fear of Islam are so great in this country that one does not even dare to give this segment of the population its legitimate voice in politics.
Our neighbor Holland, of all countries, which has rather made a name for itself through negative headlines linked to Islam, has shown proof that there is another way. Despite the scandal surrounding the filmmaker Van Gogh, who was murdered by an Islamic extremist for his film critical of Islam, and the hate campaign led by the rightist populist Member of Parliament, Geert Wilder, the Moroccan, Ahmed Aboutaleb, has been head of the second largest city in the country since October 2008, Rotterdam. It can be seen here that they are basically not concerned about the clash described by the American theorist, Samuel P. Huntington, between the hostile opposing cultural groups of Christians and Muslims. The fact is that Aboutaleb is a fan of the Amsterdam Ajax soccer club and that raises the tempers of the good people in Rotterdam far more than his Arab and Muslim background.
Aboutaleb, son of an Imam, came to the Netherlands at the age of 15, worked at first as a journalist, and then climbed the political party career ladder, rung by rung, until he was elected mayor of Rotterdam. He stands for the rather conservative camp of his party, decidedly rejecting all forms of religious extremism, and is considered in the debate on integration to be some one who considers both problems and opportunities equally, without glossing over or exaggerating them. The Netherlands has thus proven that even in times of international terrorism, Huntington’s “Clash of the Cultures and having politicians like Geert Wilders, it is possible to make a rational judgment about a person with a Muslim background. And, by the way, this has made our neighbor a shining example of political integration in Europe. This has made the devote Muslim Aboutaleb known outside his administrative district as well, which is evident in the visit made to Rotterdam by Heinz Buschkowsky, Mayor of Berlin’s problem district, Neukölln, in 2008, and Aboutaleb’s reception about three-fourths of a year later in Berlin for an exchange of project ideas, integration measures, and strategies for dealing with problems.
This visit, and the attention of the German press that Aboutaleb gained along with it, is perhaps a first step toward the integration of Muslim immigrants. Perhaps Aboutaleb can also make it clear that there is no well-defined, antagonistic culture here, but rather common ground and values. At any rate, no Muslim has been elected to head a major city in Germany or to any other similarly significant post to date. But even in the issue of political integration there is a small shimmer of hope. Strangely enough, it is the youth organization of the CDU, the Schülerunion, that shows how close Islam and Christianity can be. None other than the next generation of the party that enjoys a rather negative claim to fame in immigration policies through Roland Koch’s escapades with the issue of foreigners and the rejection of the Turkish entrance into the EU, and on top of that is the only European political party with a reference to Christianity in its name, presents itself as a trailblazer of political integration.
Younes Ouaqasse, the national chairman of the CDU’s Schülerunion, is living proof of this. Just like Aboutaleb, he is a devote Muslim and attended school for considerable time in Morocco. It was particularly the conservative Christian values that convinced the son of Moroccan immigrants of the Union’s political program, and so he stands for the fact that the religious and cultural divide between Muslims, Christians, Germans, and Arabs is not so great and as incompatible as the media often represent. The problems seem to start when the irrational fear of the violent terrorist stereotype built up over the years runs rampant, preventing measured dialog from providing clarity. Aboutaleb and Ouaqasse not only stand for being members of a particular major segment of the population and their catalog of values in the political process, but also enable a wider public to revise the negative image of Islam common today and to separate the tolerant Muslim majority from the small Muslim minority of extremists.